Date:	Wednesday 22 August 1945
Time:	day
Type:	Miles M.38 Messenger
Owner/operator:	2nd TAF Comms Sqn RAF
Registration:	RG333
MSN:	4697
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Oldenburg, Lower Saxony -   Germany
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:	Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany

Narrative:
C/n 4697: RG333 Miles M.38 Messenger Mk.II second pre-production prototype M.38 Mk.II Messenger, built by the Experimental Department at Liverpool Road, Reading, Berkshire during early 1944. 145 hp DH Gipsy Major ID engine. It is not known who made its first flight as, rather surprisingly, this aircraft was not flown by Flight Lt H V Kennedy. An undated photo shows RG333 with a prototype 'P' marking on the fuselage but without wings, tailplane or engine taken at Liverpool Road, Reading.

RG333 first flew with the 'P' marking (although RG327 did not) and was officially recorded as being delivered to 2nd TAF Comms Squadron 5.10.44 although Flt Lt T J Martin had flown RG333 at Woodley on 13.9.44, and on 15.9.44 he flew it from Woodley to Brussels via Shoreham and Amiens. Montgomery, by now a Field Marshal, was first flown in RG333 on 16.9.44. Following a local engine change, Flight Lt Martin carried out an air test on 4.10.44 and then flew it from Brussels to Woodley 24.10.44; Flight Lt Kennedy was second pilot when Martin flew it from Woodley on test 3.11.44; returning to Brussels 4.11.44. Flight Lt Martin returned again to Woodley, via Ypres, Lympne and Fairlop on 6.1.45; to Brussels via Lympne 17.1.45 and to Woodley again 22.1.45, via Courtrai and Redhill.

Flight Lt Martin then flew RG333 to "a landing strip" at Zomhoven, with two passengers 1.2.45. On 25.3.45, he flew the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill "to view German defences across the Rhine". He returned to Woodley again from Brussels 10.5.45, followed by an air test there 11.5.45; flew to Luneberg via Brussels and Bramsche 22.5.45; to Woodley, from Brussels 13.7.45 returning there 19.7.45. Transferred to BAFO Com Sqn 2.8.45, but still used by Field Marshall Montgomery

RG333 was written off (Cat.E) following engine failure whilst landing at Oldenburg, Germany 22.8.45. An examination of the wreckage by the RAE Farnborough revealed that the engine 'cut' was caused by water
in the fuel, "introduced by person or persons unknown". Passengers on the airplane were Field Marshal Montgomery and his Aide-de-Camp, Captain Noel Chavasse. The pilot was Flight Lieutenant T. Martin. Captain Chavasse and Flight Lt Martin were uninjured in the accident, but Montgomery suffered two cracked vertebrae.

Note that the aircraft that currently (2022) flies as "RG333" is not the original aircraft (which was written off as described above) but another Miles Messenger, a.k.a. G-AIEK (c/no 6339 first registered 27/8/1946) which is painted to resemble RG333.

1. Air Enthusiast 58
2. Monty's Double
3. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_2000.pdf
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldenburg_Air_Base

Field Marshal B L Montgomery standing in front of his personal Messenger Mark I, RG333, at a landing ground in Normandy. His pilot, Flying Officer Martin, stands next to him. Picture probably dated late June 1944

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Oct-2008 00:45	ASN archive	Added
09-Aug-2015 03:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Country, Embed code, Narrative]
14-Nov-2018 06:50	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
05-Nov-2019 22:44	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
26-Sep-2022 21:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
26-Sep-2022 21:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
26-Sep-2022 21:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Category]